Watcher of the Skies, Opening Chords with the Mellotron M4000D

[@andrewmurray5542]

He looks exactly like what I imagined a watcher of the skies would look like

[@EdwinNewcomb]

Brilliant 😂

[@ItaiIfrach]

Haha

[@geftiler2112]

He looks like he is from the 1700s...lol

[@VelvetTubeShaper]

😂❤

[@swbbreps8464]

The song is actually based on Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and the description of the Watcher of the Skies in the book is quite different. More like the horned and tailed devil, lol!

[@fueledbylove]

I knew that Santa kept all the best Toys for himself!

[@titoujezxtian912]

🤣😂

[@erikboeren8720]

😂😂😂❤

[@aristocrateplatone5714]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@erickjason9092]

What a sick setup! There is no sound more beautiful than a mellotron.

[@ProgRockKeys]

Worked on this setup my whole life! Thanks!

[@erickjason9092]

@@ProgRockKeys NO thank you for displaying an age and style of playing that no longer exists. Oh how I miss the 60's and 70's

[@erickjason9092]

@@BP-kx2ig Unbelievable - amazing

[@Sugarsail1]

except bagpipes duh.

[@stephaniemarx9162]

@@Sugarsail1 I am thinking of something Rick Wakeman said " Only thing good on bagpipes is a Sherman tank "

[@stevefick3919]

Such a beautiful haunting sound!

[@TheScreamingFrog916]

One of the most beautiful uses of the Mellotron, in Progressive rock history. Wonderful performance sir. Thanks for sharing.

[@ProgRockKeys]

Thank you, that was very nice!

[@robertpfeiffer8836]

Agreed! Tony Banks, Wakeman, Mike Pinder (moody blues) were/are the definitive masters of the Mellotron IMO. And this dude completely nails it!! Beautiful.

[@MrUsermister]

Not "one of" ... this is the quintessential portrait of the instrument, especially as solo and intro sequence ...

[@majwilsonlion]

​@@robertpfeiffer8836- and someone from King Crimson. Many good Mellotron lines from their early albums.

[@Keefcooks]

Brilliant!

[@MoSkent1]

What a marvel ! At the last note of your fabulous Mellotron, I expected Peter, Mike and Phil to join in to continue the piece. Damn, but where have the musical geniuses of this blessed era gone ?!?

[@peterhughes5522]

I was 10 8n 1973 and this was the first thing I heard from Genesis. Hooked ever since. I'll never forget that moment.

[@kenjones6441]

One of Progs greatest intros.

[@jondoe7451]

It's the warble and imperfections that make it great.

[@drdalewisely]

I'm embarrassed by how long it took me to understand that string sounds on synthesizers didn't sound as great as the Mellotron because of the latter's warble and imperfections. Which also made it a bear to maintain!

[@Orwell_2984]

Ah! The sound of these old analog synthesizers and these great titles from the great era of Genesis!

[@geraldwagner8739]

A mellotron isn‘t a synthesizer.

[@nx01craig]

Behold the majesty and glory of our Mellotron overlord! Praise!!!

[@utopia3161]

Wish bands could make music like this again. Love it,. Peace to EVERYONE

[@michaellloyd463]

fantastic....I absolutely love this.

[@ProgRockDreams]

Amazing. Goosebump time. How I miss Genesis live from the 70 and 80's.

[@askburlefot2645]

What a Lab. Sounds great. Love Watcher of the Skies.

[@cliveburgess4128]

Never forget being at the concert in Detroit, early 70's opening piece, complete dark room, intro playing, then a glow of green on Peter's weird head dress and boom! Watcher of the Skies!!! Thank you!!!

[@jlkoenig4377]

I had the same experience in Hollywood at the Roxy Theater. Unforgettable! Glad you were as lucky as I was

[@michaelanthony9068]

I love that there’s a screwdriver on the mellotron. It takes an engineer to keep those things running right. Great playing! This guy has an ear !

[@ProgRockKeys]

Lol

[@philfyphil]

Glorious chords and sequence from Tony Banks.

[@giovannibaffo8161]

From a Long Term Italian Genesis's Follower only one word PERFECT! Thanks!

[@MuzixMaker]

Brilliant.

[@carlosclaptrix]

A dream, these chord progressions...

[@vgfxworks]

prefect.. one of the most beautiful chord progressions of all Genesis songs!

[@daviddelossantos6075]

Love this!!

[@TerrysQuest]

magnificent! BRAVO!

[@akaski777]

Still blows my mind today today

[@andrefelixstudio2833]

Nicely done, I have had the privilege of Hearing and seeing genesis perform this live several times !

[@kcrossleKMC]

Gosh! 197x in Princeton, NJ, my sister encouraged me to see a band I'd never heard of. And I'm coming from years of bluesy heavy rock. This opening, and the Gabriel apparition (not to mention some pretty good players up there) just reset my mind as to what modern, great, music could be.

[@NickWebber-vp4pd]

Well played sir…if someone needs to be exceptionally gifted (as you obviously are) to be able to cover that…imagine just how brilliant one must be, to be able to compose that…😮 🤯

[@ericpaulos1695]

Gave me chills to watch this!! Off the hook!

[@lazycalm41]

As a life long Genesis fan I can say that was perfectly done! however my eye was drawn to that modular Moog behind you. Keith would have been proud!

[@ProgRockKeys]

Thanks! That modular is the product of a wonderful small company located south of Dallas Tx called Synthesizers.com. I have it featured on another video, playing a Bach Invention, but I have this idea for something completely different hopefully coming soon.

[@KilroyWasHere83]

Of course the true way to make him proud is to stab knives into its keyboard

[@reeseboyd5730]

Nice Time and Tide profile pic!

[@lazycalm41]

@@reeseboyd5730 Thanks, Greenslades finest album, sadly too late to save the band from breaking up!

[@hillshepherd9444]

The MOST CORRECT Sound I have ever heard from Cover !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ProgRockKeys]

Wow, thanks!

[@orion848]

Beautiful performance. Apologies for being greedy, but please give us more Genesis.

[@kwtk6636]

とても素晴らしいです。

[@daonfpe]

Wow! “How appropriately monumental, and that without decadence! What we’ve captured in that one composition alone-ALONE!”

[@Ebriel0000000]

Extraordinary setup (Mello, Moog, Hammond and so on) and wonderful rendering. One of the greatest Genesis openings with "Firth of fifth". Thank you so much.

[@titoujezxtian912]

Best intro ever 🤩

[@carnellzabolocky5528]

These chord changes are absolutely amazing. Brilliant and satisfying all these years later,!!!!!

[@edwardcumpstey9061]

Woah, you are like a wizard. Great cover sir!

[@yousefabdelmonem3788]

He is the watcher of the skies

[@wam44]

Long time Genesis fan-bravo-well done-great gear too!

[@sergechristoffersen62]

"Watcher of the Skies (Live)" demeure encore ma pièce préférée du groupe Genesis.

[@GTurch52]

Perfection!!!!!!!

[@bernwebb1539]

As a drummer I start the hi hat rhythm off as you fade out, perfectly played John, wonderful!

[@svartmetall]

The Mellotron sounds so organic, it has more life than almost anything else done with a keyboard; Banks' intro here was actually a big formative influence on my own music in terms of how fluidly it moves between keys and eerie/resigned/hopeful tonalities. Thanks for posting this, John!

[@jdmresearch]

Though this isn't a "real mellotron". Purists would say that a real mellotron can't be digital, as the M4000 are. Perhaps they exaggerate, but it's true that there's something different when played with a M400 or MkII.

[@MagnumMuscle1000]

I've heard this intro hundreds of times (well done!) And just now realized it sounds like the soundtrack to a 1950's creature feature monster movie. I can just picture Dracula emerging from his coffin, or Frankenstein coming alive with lightning. So cool.

[@ProgRockKeys]

Thats what it looked like to me, at the Roxy in 1973. I had never even heard the band before, this was my first intro to them, live, with Peter Gabriel in the dark, spreading out his bat wings right in front of me! It really made an impression, I have to tell ya!

[@jeffhogue36]

Brilliant. Spot on, lick for lick! Wow

[@kevinharrington2078]

beautiful, made my day Thnx

[@dukestravels1861]

Nicely done.

[@1ouncebird]

Wow! That hits the spot. Well done sir.

[@vannigio6234]

uah! vera fantascienza grandiosa 💥💥💥🐻👍👍👍

[@humphrey4976]

I hope I am this cool when I am older ❤️ you absolutely rock.

[@CorradoMartone]

Wonderful vintage synthesizers and mellotron.🤟👍👍🥰

[@andreaforte8768]

Che emozione. Sembra proprio di ascoltare l'inizio di Foxtrot. ♥️ Tony Forever.

[@jimmurdoch7745]

Awesome beyond the dreams of mortals,.... Hands up, all those who had started thigh slaping or table drumming the beat as it comes in,... Love that off-beat,...

[@indioparaguayo1910]

Well done, young old man!

[@ashratempel5094]

Amazing Mellotron intro from the summer of my years.❤❤❤❤❤

[@gabrielapfel6467]

One of my favorite videos on youtube at the moment, i love the end how he keeps going

[@tindrum]

Anyone else start singing the high hat pattern toward the end? beautiful work.

[@massimomarchesin8708]

Una delle più belle introduzioni strumentali col Mellotron che abbia mai ascoltato e sempre nello stesso brano uno dei più bei finali sempre col Mellotron e sempre dei Genesis un altro grande finale da Seven Stones sempre col Mellotron !!!!

[@orcogeniale]

Ma seven stones non finisce col piano? 🤔

[@giannirizzi1031]

​@@orcogenialeBeh, no. Il piano in Seven Stones non viene utilizzato, ci sono solo organo e Mellotron ed è proprio quest'ultimo che termina il brano unitamente all'organo Hammond.

[@redyosh9811]

Damn, Santa. Kick ass!

[@AkkiSan23]

great 😀

[@kayserlein]

Ohhh this is pretty!! Those harmonies ❤❤❤ Oh Tony...

[@need2knowblue]

epic

[@neutralearth1061]

Thanks for the awesome Mellotron demonstration, and for playing one of our favorite Mellotron songs! As longtime lovers of the sound of the Mellotron (Craig's 1st musical instrument was his M400 acquired in 1976) our philosophy is... "There is no such thing as too much Mellotron". We have the M400 (W/4 tape frames) an M4000D (the big one), and two Mellotron Micro's. We also used several Mellotron Apps on our 1st album. Long live the Mellotron!

[@ProgRockKeys]

Cherry Records is releasing a compilation called Blank Generation. One cut is called Gimme Cigarette by Cigarettes, basically Philo Cramer and me in 1975-1977. Opening chords are from my chamberlain 100, strings, the prototype for a Mellotron. A true bonafide nightmare instrument.

[@neutralearth1061]

@@ProgRockKeys Sounds awesome! We will look for it!

[@StationaryDingleberry]

Why am I crying?

[@elcurvo]

Nice !!

[@fabricerotier4284]

Only Tony my friend can play GENESIS ❤🎉

[@Boriskrasno9412]

A l’identique ❤ C’est parfait , j’en ai encore le frisson !

[@ericst-jacques2496]

One of the greatest cover i’ve heard. Fantastic!!

[@stevecoscia]

What a big sound! Terrific!

[@NicolasMelis]

sounds great! well done !

[@edelachtbare100]

Absolutely wonderful!

[@frank7690]

Questo pezzo sarebbe favoloso anche suonato in una chiesa. Poi si lamentano che nessuno ci và più.

[@Mr.1.i]

the meletron sounds so sweet

[@carlosrobertoramirezfuente2524]

What a beautiful rendition of such a masterpiece?

[@mordokch]

Why does it cut off !!! That was great and I was just getting into it lol. Marvelous 👻✨🎃

[@CybersurferLibre]

I have listened with real pleasure and I am listening again several times to this little piece by Genesis, really very exciting; it makes me want to learn to play wonderful music like this.

[@uckbee]

Didn't realize Darwin was a musician as well. He naturally selects his music very well!

[@tommymandel]

That's really good! Thanks.

[@malkin_laboratory4692]

Now I've got, how real watcher of the skies looks like!) Great mild sounds and slow deepest tempo of performing!

[@praha007]

awesome

[@fisicauniversitaria]

Genial ❤❤

[@swbbreps8464]

The song is actually based on Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and the description of the Watcher of the Skies in the book is quite different. More like the horned and tailed devil, lol!

[@NellBrown-t2y]

Impressive!

[@peggs1]

OUTSTANDING

[@tonykeith76]

For my whole life I dreamed to have such instruments.. ( Minimoog first ) Congratultions and greetings from Italy

[@ProgRockKeys]

Yes, me as well! I’m 67 years old, went to work at 17 and got my first Hammond M3 organ for my 18th birthday. I keep buying keys ever since that time! 50 years of working, but I finally have them! Haha Now I need to use them more, your comments are inspiring

[@tonykeith76]

@@ProgRockKeys I use the bass pedals too... Amazing

[@trubadurleduc4468]

Beautiful, thank you

[@Zerpersande]

Well, that was pretty much spot on, huh? Pretty much perfect. Congrats!

[@Bacteriod]

Nailed it!

[@anthonyelectric6045]

Perfect 👍

[@MAZZI100]

Superb!. ♥

[@johnny-p]

Excellent!

[@Mellotron61]

oh lala ...excellent 👏👏

[@garysczerbaniewicz5951]

Spot-on! Well done!

[@craigpreston8260]

Gorgeous!!

[@randlerobbertson8792]

Ethereal, spine tingling and wonderful....

[@franciscodiaz183]

Extraordinaire!

[@EastmanD]

who is this mad genius ??

[@jamiemorgan4146]

Loved it 😍

[@jonthebru]

That's beautiful.